Celtic catch stray in Atlantic League reboot pitch as architect blames ‘gravy train’ for breakaway roadblock

Dermot Desmond has previously made the Hoops position on the breakaway clear as he turned down the set-up.

The man behind the North Atlantic League has unveiled his plans to move the set-up forward – but concedes he doesn’t expect Celtic to be a part of the reboot.

Four years ago Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen, Hibs and Hearts were all included in plans to set up a regional competition by Irish sports investment guru and Shelbourne vice-chairman Andrew Doyle. The 20-team crossborder competition would have featured clubs from Sweden, Denmark, Norway and the Republic of Ireland. The league would have implemenent promotion and relegation and had the backing of investment bank JP Morgan and projected broadcasting revenue of up to £350m a year.

However, the plans fell apart when Celtic powerbroker Dermot Desmond recently indicated he wasn’t interested in the plans, but was urged to reconsider by Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack – who believed there will be European or cross-border leagues in the near future. That was followed by the controversial European Super League proposal where Celtic reiterated the would oppose any breakaway leagues.

The European Court of Justice would rule that UEFA and FIFA were ‘abusing a dominant position’ – and Doyles reckons the Champions League already acts as a Super League. Speaking to The Daily Mail, Doyle is adamant the plans differed from the ESL in that promotion from and relegation to domestic leagues would be built in to the set-up – with leagues in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania set to play a key role in a fresh proposal.

Asked if the proposal could be revived in the wake of the Super League debacle, Doyle took a pot shot at Celtic as he discussed the plans. He responded: ‘Yes it could, of course, but Celtic would have to want to be competitive in Europe and my guess is they’re perfectly happy being at the top of a depreciating SPFL forever and then being perennially uncompetitive in the Champions League.

“It’s a gravy train and they’re on it. The new UEFA Champions League format is even better for them more European games equals even more European money for them. Our structure would have passed all reasonable UEFA criteria because it benefited all stakeholders, not just Celtic and Rangers, in Scotland’s case. So long as the current system remains and Scotland’s place in the UEFA access list remains relatively high, Celtic are most unlikely to go for it.

“I think they’ll be very happy to continue winning the Premiership more years than not, where they’ll gain automatic access to the round of 32 and then get hockeyed there, but still get all that European cash. That, of course, ensures that Scottish football remains hopelessly uncompetitive, because no one can match Celtic’s cash.”